The Hot Dog Professor

Practical business tips from Mark Reitman, the founder of Hot Dog University in Milwaukee, include choosing the right soundtrack

Do you need a degree to run a hot dog cart? Mark Reitman, the founder of Hot Dog University in Milwaukee, thinks so. For $300, the former elementary school teacher and guidance counselor with a fondness for Chicago-style dogs, offers aspiring vendors a hands-on, two-day course on the ins and outs of the mobile food business. Six to eight students at a time participate in a course, and Reitman, who launched the business in June, 2006, says it is profitable and plans to expand it.

On the first day of the program, participants learn the basics in a classroom setting—from getting the right licenses to finding a prime location. On the second day, Reitman brings the class into the field to run a cart and sell dogs themselves. He bases his coursework on his three years of experience moonlighting as a vendor at a mall in Wisconsin. (The opening of the mall's food court prompted him to try his hand at instruction.)

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